SMEs Present a Ripe Environment for Innovation

When it comes to getting the best deals, volume often remains king within many corporate travel supplier categories. When it comes to travel program innovation, however, small and midsize travel programs boast several advantages over their larger brethren.

"I was very flexible and nimble at Sapient," said former travel manger for the company Michelle De Costa, who now manages a much larger program at Liberty Mutual Insurance. "I could dream it up and put it in place the next day."

So, what approach should SMEs use to take advantage of their position, and what challenges do they still need to overcome?

Planting the seeds: A smaller traveling population also means a travel buyer can get closer to travelers and solicit feedback on what is working and what is not, giving them an idea of what to target for innovation. By contrast, a larger company might have multiple divisions, travel populations and traveler needs. Even though SMEs increasingly are going global, it’s still more manageable.

"If you’re a huge organization, it’s almost insurmountable," said Dycom Industries corporate travel manager Jennifer Steinke. "As soon as you get one thing rolled out, you’re back to starting out again."

For SMEs, she said, innovation can spring from a simple question: "If you could have a perfect world for travel, what would it look like?" She noted, "You’re dealing with smaller teams of people, who maybe are closer in proximity as far as operationally."

At the same time, SME buyers generally have smaller teams of their own and might juggle responsibilities outside the travel sphere. As such, finding the time to devote to travel program innovation can still be a challenge.

Even so, SME buyers should not outsource innovation and expect, say, the travel management company to lead the way, Steinke said. To begin, buyers should look at the overall program, considering company culture and willingness to take risks. They should then determine what the large strategy is—becoming more traveler-centric, for example, or driving mobile efficiencies—and explore what tools are available to achieve that, both third-party and internal.

Getting management buy-in: Just as SME buyers are closer to their travelers, they also are closer to their bosses, which can play to their advantage. SMEs tend to be less complex, so buyers have fewer layers to reach key decision makers and fewer corporate departments from which to get approval, De Costa said. As such, building trust is easier, as the C-suite members at a large company might not even know who the company travel buyer is.

SME management also tends to be less cautious and risk averse, meaning they might be more open to the new ideas, De Costa said.

That does not make proper development and the selling of ideas any less important, however. "No matter what your size, you have to tell the right story and have the right value proposition," Steinke said.

Partnering with suppliers: Large suppliers tend to pay less attention to those clients with smaller spending levels, Steinke noted. SME buyers might have success with new ideas if, for example, the supplier could use the innovation to win or maintain relationships with large buyers, as well.

Still, SME buyers might find better success partnering with smaller and emerging suppliers. "Find a smaller technology company willing to develop and work with you, where you’ll have a bigger voice," Steinke said. "It’s easier when you’re a bigger fish in a smaller pond."

Implementation: If a project needs internal resources, such as IT, those often are limited at SMEs, which can delay implementation. "It can go into a queue, and when they get to it, they get to it," De Costa said. "It can take longer, and sometimes you struggle."

Fortunately, getting traveler buy-in once it’s time to implement an idea is an easier task for SMEs, thanks again to the travel manager’s proximity to the traveling population.

"It’s easy to get a pilot group, pick up the phone and build up a greater level of trust in that important audience," Steinke said. "When they know you have their best interest at heart, they will be in front of you."